March 21, 2005

Locker Room Talk

White House Chief of Staff Andy Card describes Dina Powell (right), the new diplomacy czar at State: "She is extremely attractive, very competent, well spoken, young, she's got quiet confidence and she is task-oriented. In other words, she gets the job done." Uh-huh.

And here's OMB director Josh Bolten: "You can see people really taken by surprise when this young, attractive, really well-spoken person in both English and Arabic makes a presentation on behalf of the president. That sends a really strong message."

Cold showers, boys! Criminy. In seriousness, though, Dina Powell seems like a great choice for the role—speaks Arabic, wildly popular in Egypt (and no doubt her looks have a lot to do with that)—though it's still true that the best way to address our unpopularity in the Middle East is with, get this, better policies, not better public relations. But oh well. At least Andy Card's happy.